The Companion Rescue Skills course is a one-day, field-based course for recreational winter backcountry users that builds on the foundation of the very popular AST 1 course (Avalanche Skills Training 1). Students learn preventative measures, analyze transceiver functions, apply search and rescue techniques and identify post-incident considerations.
“Teck is one of our long-time supporters,” said CAC Executive Director, Ian Tomm. “In addition to this new course, Teck also sponsors a field program in the south Rockies, which provides valuable data for our public avalanche bulletin in the Elk Valley and Crowsnest Pass areas. Teck’s commitment to public avalanche safety continues to have a very real and lasting impact.”
"Teck is proud to continue our support of the CAC in their public safety initiatives," said Nic Milligan, Manager of Community and Aboriginal Affairs for Teck Coal. "The Companion Rescue Skills course directly supports the safety of backcountry users in our communities. Supporting the CAC in these endeavours is a natural expression of Teck's core value of safety—and of our desire to foster safety in our communities."
Funding from both public and private sources has allowed the design of this specialized curriculum and the development of training workshops for instructors. The Companion Skills Rescue course also fulfills one of eight recommendations made to the CAC by the BC Coroners Service Death Review Panel report on avalanche-related snowmobiling deaths. This report was published in January 2010, after a panel of stakeholders convened to examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 19 recreational snowmobilers who died in B.C. during the winter of 2008/2009.
“Since its publication, this report has been our ‘road map’ for going forward and we are grateful to the BC Coroners Service for their insight into this issue,” said Tomm. “Every time we are able to fulfill a recommendation marks a significant step forward in public avalanche safety. We thank both the Government of BC and Teck for their help in this latest step in that progress.”
